Getting started with Google +1

At the end of March, Google announced the launch of their ‘+1′ (plus one) button, which is their version of Facebook’s ‘like’ button, allowing you to express your approval or recommendation of sites across the web, directly from Google’s search results page.

When you do a search on Google, each result will have next to it a ‘+1′ button, and if you click it, it turns blue, and a notification appears underneath to show that you have +1′d it. Here’s the search result for Web Design From Scratch, which I have +1′d (and why not!):

A search result listing which has been +1'd

It’s all part of Google adding ‘social layers’ to it’s existing products. Google’s aim is always to provide better search results, and they see recommendations as an important factor in that.

Your search results will only show +1s from people in your ‘social connections’, which include your Gmail and Google Talk contacts and people you follow on Google Reader. All of this adds fuel to the rumours that Google is developing a rival to Facebook.

Why Can’t I See it?

At the time of writing, Google +1 is slowly being rolled out in English, so you may start to see it in your search results soon.

But if you can’t wait to start using it, you can go to Google Experimental and join the +1 button experiment. (Note that you will need to use Google.com to see the +1 button, it doesn’t yet work on Google.co.uk etc.)

Can I put it on my site?

Not yet. The beauty of the Facebook Like button is that you can stick it on your website so that people can easily like your posts while browsing the web.

Google plans to do the same, so you’ll probably start to see the +1 button amongst all the other social buttons you see on most sites these days, but it’s not available yet.

You can however give Google your email address, and they will let you know when it’s ready to use.